Aug 7, 2009 3:08 PM, By Sean Kilcarr, senior editor
Electric vehicles grant

The electric vehicle industry is getting a major shot in the arm with $2.4 billion in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy – funding coming from the $787 billion in spending and tax cuts encompassed within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or “stimulus bill” passed by Congress back in February.

“This marks the single largest investment in advanced battery technology for hybrid and electric-drive vehicles ever made,” said Secy. of Energy Steven Chu. “They will help achieve President Obama’s goal of putting one million plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road by 2015. And, most importantly, they will launch an advanced battery industry in America and make our auto industry cleaner and more competitive.”

Those grants are focused on funding three key areas of the electric vehicle industry:

1. Roughly $1.5 billion for battery and battery component production, plus battery recycling;
2. Some $500 million for production of electric drive vehicle components, motors, and electronics;
3. $400 million to fund purchase incentives for plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles for demonstrations, as well as funds to build recharging infrastructure and workforce training.

“This is transformational, and not just in terms of the dollar amount,” Jennifer Watts, spokesperson for the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA), told FleetOwner. “This level of government investment creates a strong policy direction for electric vehicles, making them appeal to investors over both the medium and long term.”

It’s also critical that the grants are “across the board” in the electric vehicle industry, funding not just vehicle development but the creation of recharging infrastructure while funding new battery research. “You can’t just have a shot in the arm in one area of this industry,” Watts explained. “It brings everyone to the table – electric car and truck makers, battery makers, etc. It makes sure all the pieces of the puzzle are in place so electric vehicles can make an impact.”

For example, Navistar received $39 million in funds for its Wakarusa, IN, manufacturing facility to develop and build all-electric delivery vehicles in partnership with British electric truck maker Modec. The deal would see a Navistar-Modec joint venture build electric Class 2 and 3 commercial vehicles for North, Central and South American markers – primarily for urban-suburban pickup and delivery service.

Navistar said plans call for building 400 of the all-electric light duty trucks in 2010 and expects that within a couple of years several thousand such vehicles will be produced annually. “These will be city delivery and UPS/FedEx style electric trucks – medium- and light-duty models,” Roy Wiley, Navistar’s head of corporate communications, told FleetOwner. “This is where it is at for electric truck demand at the present time.”

Smith Electric Vehicles U.S. Corp. received a $10 million DOE grant toward the production of its all-electric medium-duty commercial trucks unveiled in Washington D.C. last week – both for a nationwide demonstration project to validate the unit’s performance across a range of climates and locations as well as fund purchasing incentives to reduce the cost of its electric vehicle.

“[With these grants] the Obama Administration demonstrated its commitment to this fast-emerging industry,” said Bryan Hansel, Smith’s CEO. “This demonstration fleet will allow major corporations to evaluate the technology at greatly reduced cost, which we expect will rapidly accelerate the shift from trial phase to volume orders.”

Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (eTec), a subsidiary of ECOtality, received $99.8 million in federal funds to test and analyze electric vehicle usage and charging infrastructure – and it’s partnering with Nissan North America on a project to deploy up to 5,000 electric vehicles and 12,750 charging stations in five U.S. markets.
Source: Fleet Owner.com